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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29987592">In The End (Forever He Waits)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyAries_17/pseuds/AyAries_17'>AyAries_17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>No Time To Die [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Akaashi Puts The Slow In Slow Burn, Angst, Assassination, Bokuaka - Freeform, Bokutos juicy ass, Daisuga if you look hard enough, Emotional Hurt, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Goshiki slander, Graphic Description, Gun Violence, Hurt No Comfort, Knife Violence, Kuroken if you squint, M/M, Matuskawas horse cock, Mentions of a bj alex kinnie, Mentions of a sangwoo kinnie, Minor Character Death, Murder, Oikawa is a twink, Oikawa slander, Pain, Strangers to Lovers, Tendou slander, Violence, Why Did I Write This?, Written by bokuto and akaashi kinnies, daichi is annoying, dont hate us, suffer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:08:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,595</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29987592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyAries_17/pseuds/AyAries_17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Death was supposed to be beautiful. In a world of violence, was there really a better ending?</p><p>"Just because you have to die... doesn't mean you have to do It alone"<br/>-<br/>-<br/>Warnings:<br/>Character death<br/>Mentions of drug use<br/>Graphic violence<br/>Torture<br/>Mentions of PTSD</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akaashi Keiji &amp; Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>No Time To Die [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205822</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Is this right? Death. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> In certain ways, people would consider death as beautiful, welcoming it with open arms and celebrating a well-lived life. Finally being able to forget the embarrassment of your past and move on to something better, something new. Rumoured to be a carefree paradise - a place where you could finally let go. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> It almost seemed like a perfect dream; so peaceful you never wanted to wake up, and you never did. Isn’t that something to be grateful for? A surreal ending next to the person you wasted your life away with. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But this was not a beautiful ending. There was nothing beautiful about it.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Loosening his grip on the young boy’s raven hair, he let his now lifeless body collapse to the discoloured oak floor almost as if it were rehearsed. Even though he was facing his back, Akaashi knew the light from his dark brown eyes had faded into nothing. He had watched it all too many times before. </p><p> </p><p>Holding what was supposed to be a stainless steel knife in his right hand, he let the weapon drop to his side - the angle from behind didn't prevent the blood from soiling his own skin. Kneeling next to the fresh corpse, he swiped the tip of the blade against the inside of his thumb adding yet another similar slash wound to the one on his neck. Leaving his mark behind; he would claim this murder. The burgundy liquid seeped into the fabric of his glove as he wiped the weapon clean before returning it to his sheath. Never taking a second look at the body.</p><p> </p><p>After seeing many scenes like this, he grew used to the guilt that would stalk him late into the night. Thoughts about what he had witnessed refused to quiet down or even let him finish a meal in peace. The weight in his chest digging almost as deep as his victims’ graves, burying him six feet under. However, despite the murder he had just committed, the charcoal haired man never felt an ache in his heart or a voice in his head. This was the norm for him now and remorse had left him a long time ago. </p><p> </p><p>Half lidded eyes peered out and into the open, scouring for any signs of a person watching or walking by. The dim lighting of the street lamps made it hard to differentiate a bin from a person, anyone could have seen the massacre hidden by a thin brick wall. Deciding that the coast was clear, he made his way through the door and towards a black Mercedes tucked away by the cover of the night. Taking quick strides towards the vehicle, he peeled back the gloves that stuck to his skin - fooling anyone into thinking they were simply just white gloves. Opening the door to his car with his now clean glove, careful not to leave any marks as he had it washed a few days prior. </p><p> </p><p>Black tinted windows concealed his identity from any passers-by, cold metallic grey eyes never wavered from the road in front of him. One hand on the steering wheel as the other reached out towards the incoming call that appeared on the screen in front of him. The vibration in his zipped pocket died down as Bluetooth had already connected his phone to the car. </p><p> </p><p>“Target eliminated” Was all Akaashi had to say to inform the person on the other end of the phone that the job was done. </p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t expect any less from our Keiji~ so tell me the story princess, any surprising part? Plot twists? Witnesses?” Akaashi shifted in his seat as he brought his hands to turn the steering wheel, sighing out loud so that the other could hear it - ignoring his teasing like usual. </p><p> </p><p>“You’ll get the details in the report Tendou”. An audible whine was heard from the speakers before the impatient man continued. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, you better be quick with it”. And with that, the call ended with a click as Akaashi drove through the neon lights of Tokyo. His fingers twisted the dial of the radio, listening to the way the vibrations drowned out the rest of the night. To him, lyrics were meaningless. Just an excuse to distract the mind from the underlying meaning of each scenario the instruments created. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Fool me once, fool me twice, are you death or paradise? Now you'll never see me cry. There's just no time to die.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>What did that even mean? If it wasn’t for the lyrics he would imagine a calm ocean reflecting small amounts of the sunset, before turning itself over to the crashing waves in the upcoming night. He would imagine how it would feel to be in the middle of the mess, drifting between each ripple the sea made. Not scared or excited. He would simply be. Letting himself float without intention, waiting for someone to guide him to his next task. The moment was ruined, his attempt at distancing himself from work was a fail. </p><p> </p><p>Stones crunched under the tyres of the Mercedes as Akaashi pulled up to the base, the sleek black model of another sports car caught his eye from across the parking lot. Taking a quick glance at the number plate; printing the tag in his mind. 472 ABF committing it to memory as he headed towards the entrance of the brick structure.</p><p> </p><p>Akaashi lifted his eyes from his feet to acknowledge the short blonde haired man seated at the front desk. A nod of approval was all Akaashi got back from him, his glasses slightly slanted as they rested on the bridge of his nose. Black ink sunk into his skin just above the arch of his eyebrow in some form of roman numerals and the other eyebrow had a piercing adding to his intimidation. Taking a few steps away from Tsukishima towards the elevator, the boy acknowledged the intrusion of axe mixing in with the usual vanilla odour that circled the bottom floor. </p><p> </p><p>Keiji’s movements came to a momentary stop, lifting his phone from his pocket to check for any missed alerts. Upon finding nothing he let his free hand unconsciously move towards the two metal circles fused onto the wall, pressing the button for the top floor with his knuckle attempting to avoid all touch. The red circles running across the top of the elevator began to count down from the top floor making a small tick whenever it reached a new level. The faint smell of iron lingered in the air; He knew that smell all too well. One he usually found easy to ignore, maybe the changes in the atmosphere were messing with his concentration. Akaashi scrunched his nose, turning his head to the side in a lazy attempt at ridding himself of the scent of blood. Diverting his attention elsewhere, he opted against spending time on his phone. The metal doors soon opened to reveal an empty box, collecting mirrors along the sidewall while the other two remain empty.</p><p> </p><p>There was no music in the elevator, but instead, the whispers of the night crept into his ears. The tinted glass dulled out the colour of the lights scattered all over the city. Akaashi stood with his hands limp at his sides gazing out into the far distance, taking his time to relax before writing up a report of his assassination earlier that evening.</p><p> </p><p>Muffled voices and the ring of the lift snapped Akaashi out of his trance. The doors open to reveal a normal office with normal desks and normal workspaces - but they were anything but normal. Only two of them seemed to be present; both equally unpredictable. “Keiji! You’re bac- OW!” The overly-excited redhead’s hand hit his desk signalling his loss. A boy with darker hair stood from the other side of the desk, rolling down his sleeve to hide the ink paintings on his right arm. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s seven to three Satori, done trying yet?” Tendou’s eyes narrowed on the victorious man standing in front of him, straightening his posture almost as if reclaiming his position as a higher-up. Something he did often. Matsukawa and Tendou had a habit of comparing themselves to each other, not in a way to degrade the other but more to make the work environment less tense. The competitions ranged from athletic ability to cooking skills to origami, most Satori would pick and still lose. “What’s next? I’d say our wangs but I’d still win” A low chuckle erupted from his throat as he turned on his heels and walked away, leaving the two behind.  </p><p> </p><p>Frustrated and annoyed, he reached out to pick up the nearly empty stapler resting to the side of his computer. Aiming almost animatedly, he brought his arm forward to release but instead slammed it on the surface of the desk in defeat. Akaashi ambled towards his work desk opposite Tendous, hearing muffled insults like “Cocky bastard” and a few “I should kill him”. He ignored the squinting eyed man while pulling out his documents; the report was already overdue. Flicking through the copious amounts of completed papers trying to find a clean one to fill out the basics. With two fingers he spun the body of the pen and he hovered the nib over the first answer box - not giving a second thought to his prior victims.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Target: </b>
  <strong>
    <em>Tsutomu Goshiki</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Date of decease:<em> March 6th, 2027 </em></p><p>Place:<em> Goshiki residence. </em></p><p>Desc:<em> Signs of struggle, slit on neck - ear to ear, attack from behind.  </em></p><p>Mark of Ikigai: <em> Yes. </em></p><p>Witnesses:<em> None. </em></p><p>Reason for assassination: <em> Trading information on members of Ikigai, fraud. </em></p><p>Assigned Agent: <em> Akaashi, Keiji </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The scratching of the pen came to a stop as Akaashi leaned back in his chair taking a brief moment to relax. Slender fingers ran through his raven hair, combing any of the knots out as he exhaled. Heavy eyelids opened to take in the office around him; charcoal grey painted walls and a darker coloured carpet set the scene for any criminal organisation. Windows that ran from the floor to ceiling with black stained frames showed a vast view of Tokyo with all the furniture neatly organised. The desks were connected and aligned with one another making it almost impossible to be alone at any given moment. </p><p> </p><p>Although the paperwork was pretty simple, it was necessary; one slip up could end in a much bigger problem. For this reason, Akaashi would only fill out what was asked, nothing more. If they wanted more information they would get back to him but that wasn’t a common occurrence. </p><p> </p><p>Upon concluding the form, he placed the pen back in its holder along with the other neatly kept utensils. Leaning back in the uncomfortable office chair, he let out an almost silent groan followed by the crack of his back. Regardless of his neutral feelings towards his line of work, the write up was always something he wanted to skip. It was stupid to him: justifying why he took a life. Was there ever a rational explanation for homicide?</p><p> </p><p>Standing from his seat, he gathered the papers into a daffodil yellow folder, pressing them together slightly before placing them on Tendou’s desk. The crimson-haired boy replaced the weekly copy of Shonen jump with the file Akaashi just discarded, bringing it up to hide his face so only his eyes and hair were showing. He ran his pointer finger across the information he wanted to know, narrating as he usually did. “Oooooo okay, so the great Keiji attacked from behind. I’m imagining you pulled his hair back before slitting his throat?” His mischievous eyes shot a glance at Akaashi for a response before returning to the paper. “Kinky~ No witnesses? Clean, quick and unknown. Expected nothing less” Tendou closed the folder, keeping it in his left hand. A thin-lipped grin was plastered across his face, his cocky expression only enhanced more when he rested his chin on the back of his hand. “Nice work Agent K. I’ll let the boss know you’re ready for a new case.” Akaashi nodded, twisting slightly to check around the office another time to locate the leader. He took notice of who was around but came up to no avail. </p><p> </p><p>“Where is Mr S?” He questioned, relaxing his shoulders when he sat back in his seat. Patiently, he watched as the pale man leaned back in his chair with his head tilted to the side, looking through the small glass opening on the wooden door. </p><p> </p><p>“Still in a meeting, looks like they’re finishing up though” Satori came to a normal-ish sitting position with his arms wrapped around his leg, pulling it closer to his chest. Moving his tongue to push against the two silver studs to the left of his lip, causing them to protrude outwards. “I think we’re about to make some new friends” </p><p> </p><p>As if rehearsed, the door opened allowing four people to emerge from the privacy of the office walls. Only two of which Akaashi recognised. One being their boss and the other the holder of all their documents, however, the other two faces were foreign to him. The tall, lean one was dressed in a white shirt with the top three buttons undone to reveal some of his chest, black dress pants and a pair of blacked-out glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. His black hair was spiked up on one side and half of his forehead was covered by a messy fringe. The other was visibly more muscular. A black turtle neck covered his upper body showing only his fingertips from the opening of his gloves. Green and black camouflage cargo pants compliment his lower half, gathering the excess around the vamp of the black combat boots they were tucked into. Hair completely spiked up with frosted tips, resembling that of an owl. </p><p> </p><p>“Ah, Agent Keiji I see you made it back.” Sugawara nodded his head towards the dark-haired man in a black office chair, smiling briefly before returning to his business facade. Turning towards the slim figure beside him, he accepted the plastic cup of water that was offered. “Satori got some fresh meat for you, from Shogani to work on the drug bust. I’m handing it over to your team, I trust you won’t let me down.” </p><p> </p><p>Tendou curled his lips upwards, resting his eyes on the brown-eyed man “You got it, boss”.</p><p> </p><p>A short moment of non-verbal confirmation between the two strangers and Tendou happened before the two took their place at a spare desk. “Right so, Suna and I will have a meeting when the rest of the gang gets back. The wait should be no longer than 20 minutes, Tsukishima is just finishing up some work and then we will begin. Don’t be late. I won’t be repeating myself if you are. Tell tweedle dee and tweedle dumb that too.” Smirking from his own amusement, Koshi brought the white cup to his lips. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> It was unlike Sugawara to just let two people in on a high-risk case right from their first day. He mentioned they’re from another team like ours, Shogani? Never heard of it. I’ll have to ask around. How did he even find them? Why did they need to help with our case? Why are they coming in so late? It’s 12:30 am, not even the night crew are this late. They don’t look like they’re from around here, nobody here uses that much body spray. Explains the smell downstairs. Flown in? That adds up. But them joining our case is still not making sense. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Keiji. Did you do your report, it’s due.” </p><p> </p><p>Akaashi pulled himself away from his thoughts long enough to reground himself. “Yes sir.” His response was short and direct, eye contact that could swallow any man whole. Bringing his arm behind him, Tendou held out the folder for a second allowing Suna to take it with his free hand. His other hand currently occupied by a yellow corn snake that wrapped itself around his wrist and each finger. Suna tucked the file under his arm, taking the time to adjust his face mask to his nose more comfortably.</p><p> </p><p>“Damn Mr S, letting new recruits in so easily. Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft.” The familiar low voice belonging to Matsukawa interrupted the formal setting soon accompanied by the cracked one of Hanamaki, </p><p> </p><p>“Ooooo new blood.” He took small strides towards them, hands shoved deep into his pockets with his back slightly lowered. Honey riddled eyes set on the ‘new blood’ as he called them, digging deep into them till their skin itched. “I dunno boss, how do you know we can trust them” His ignorant teasing was the same whenever someone new joined the agency, usually Sugawara never really gave an answer. This time was different.</p><p> </p><p>“Because Makki.” He began, swallowing the last of the water in his mouth before crushing the cup and throwing it in the trash beside a stray desk. Sliding his hand to his lower abdomen, he took the bottom of his shirt in his hand. “They wouldn’t betray us.” He brought the bottom of his shirt up to wipe the stray water from the corner of his lips. The absence of the material left his stomach in view, showing off his well-defined abs and the black and orange inking of a koi fish to the left. His defined muscles had been sculpted by the hands of Hephaestus himself, chiselled by the gods. Hazel eyes locked with the pair, head slightly lowered to enhance intimidation. “Would you.” It was more of a statement than a question, but still, he let the two shake their heads with a “No sir” and a “Wouldn’t dream of it” before he let the cloth fall back down naturally. Not before showing off the silver bar running through his nipple, locked in place by skull balls on each end. “Well said, lads.”</p><p> </p><p>Keeping an ear out but not intently listening in to their conversation, Akaashi found himself sinking further into his chair. Quiet thoughts were whispered into his ears about his new associates that were just a few metres away from him. Shifting the position of his hands so that they rested comfortably in his lap, his tensed muscles started to slowly relax as he let his mind drift to faraway places.  </p><p> </p><p>Daydreaming wasn’t the best idea as Akaashi found himself still questioning the two new members. drawing to the conclusion that Sugawara would need more men for a certain mission or something along the lines of that. For a moment he caught his eyes trailing around the room and leading towards his new co-workers, gazing intently at how they reacted to the environment around them. Akaashi didn’t realise that he was staring until an unfamiliar pair of golden iris met with his own metallic ones. Instantly he looked elsewhere, unable to shake his thoughts of uncertainty. Curiosity had gotten the better of him. </p><p> </p><p>The meeting started not too long after that. Sugawara stood at the front of the room with Suna and Tendou to the side of him, both taking a few notes whenever something important was mentioned. It was just a briefing on the last mission and explaining to the two new recruits how we get things done around here. Elucidating the undercover work, who does what, the deadlines, the information processing and finally the write up. </p><p> </p><p>“Quick recap in case you piss babies weren’t listening. Someone’s stealing our coke, spiking whatever they didn’t take and giving it to us. Your job is to find them, kill them and get back our drugs. Uncontaminated.” Half the room nodded, the others simply listening without trying to distract themselves. </p><p> </p><p>Next to speak was Suna. He didn’t stand from his chair like anyone else would, simply tilting the screen on his laptop upwards. “Narrowing it down, it would be idiotic for the final dealer to do it. It’s way too obvious and his business would go downhill. That said, it would be logical to blame the others who get their coke from him, same business, maybe their buyers went down. But that doesn’t fit because we are the only ones dealing with this, I’ve already asked around and it seems unnatural to lie about something like this. So it has to be someone with something against us, needing to make more money than us, reasoning is irrelevant. They’re doing it and it needs to be stopped.” Brushing his fingers through the blonde underlayer of his hair, he looked up, waiting to see if anyone needed to add something before they moved on.</p><p> </p><p>Makki took the pen out of his mouth, tapping it against his temple once before letting it rest there. “But that doesn’t explain who did it. Do we have any ideas on how the goods were soiled?” He scrunched his face up in confusion before putting the marker between his teeth once more, the saliva on the end leaving a mark behind. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, the people who actually place the ‘shipping’ if you like.” Tendou sank back in his chair, that awful, smirk still planted across his face. His left foot rested on the edge of his seat with his arm on top, his middle finger playing with his lower lip. Haunting eyes fell upon the group, his facade only shifting the atmosphere slightly. For the first time in a while, Akaashi somewhat enjoyed the look on his face. </p><p> </p><p>Working with Tendou wasn’t something Keiji was fond of, working for him was even worse. Constant teasing, unfinished paperwork, never informing him on meetings they were having are just a few things he had to deal with the past few years. But this time was different. Tendou wasn’t smirking because he liked the new case, or because someone had slipped up their sentence, not even because Akaashi had given him the attention he so desperately craved. It was the new guys. They piqued his interest the second they walked out of Sugawara's office. Even Akaashi could notice that. They were the unknown. </p><p> </p><p>Continuing his important role in the meeting, Tendou spun a ballpoint around his free hand before pointing the open end at the two new guys. Their names were still unmentioned. “You two are key here. You haven’t been connected to us, nor remotely linked. Never been seen in our facilities, not been seen with us. You’ll be the ones to pick up the next load. Suna will be giving one of you orders to get information and Akaashi will be helping the other with stalling. I’ll be the getaway driver in case it goes wrong. You have tomorrow to prepare.” </p><p> </p><p>“Sounds fun. So what are you guys, like some btech cops.” The suited man smirked slightly, giving a side nudge to the guy beside him. </p><p> </p><p>The room went silent for a second, whether they were waiting for Suga to answer or simply because they didn’t know themselves. Of course, Tendou was the first to speak up: “Too messy to be assassins, too undercover to be a mafia. We kill too many people to be part of the law so we’re the borderline.”</p><p> </p><p>Crossing his arms, the silver-haired man interrupted, the varnished lighting of the room dusted the features on his face. “Vigilantes if you must, we get the work done no matter the consequences. We’re Ikigai. Nothing more, nothing less.” It was almost as if he had practised that line over in his head multiple times, even going as far to act it out in his bathroom mirror. Either way, it uplifted the confidence in the room, Makki and Mattsun grinning at each other, even Suna couldn’t help the smile growing on his face - but was quick to hide it with his mask once again. </p><p> </p><p>Akaashi remained doll-like, not bothered by the enthusiasm that was shared around the room. Instead, his eyes focus on the desk in front of him, watching as the wooded pattern travelled discordantly across the stained oak. He had grown accustomed to being partnered up with people he didn’t acquaint himself with, it was just as ordinary as any other job.</p><p> </p><p>That’s what he tried to tell himself anyway. He didn’t understand why everyone was so exhilarated about the mission involving the murder of another. He knew he would be the only one to end up with blood on his hands - it was routine. </p><p> </p><p>Once again, Akaashi was abruptly pulled away from his thoughts by the intoxicating scent he already knew too well. His dull, half-lidded eyes moving from the boys outstretched hand up to meet warm, golden ones - hidden slightly by the creases that formed when he smiled. He smiled with his eyes just as much as his mouth, using his entire face and body to show off the positive emotion. It was only now that Akaashi had noticed the small gap between his front two teeth.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m Koutarou Bokuto. Nice to meet you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The rumbling vibrations of the car engine came to a halt as they rolled into their secluded destination. Both Bokuto and Kuroo’s voices were the only noises left easing the tense atmosphere. Akaashi’s watchful eyes examined his surroundings, piles of splintered and abandoned shipping crates were scattered across the dock. He continued to scour the place till the very last inch, searching for anything that stood out in the open or looked suspicious. Upon finding nothing of the sort he came to a decision that the coast was clear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shifting his vision from the window to the rear view mirror, Keiji locked eyes with the white haired man in the middle seat. “Safe to go, he’s probably here already.” Without breaking eye contact, Bokuto nodded, continuing the communication through the mirror. Hesitating to reach for the door handle, his eyes threatened to waver from the man in the reflection. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Akaashi caught onto his paranoia, “We’ll be waiting right here, in this spot.” His voice showed no signs of a lie as he indirectly reassured him. Visibly noticing the pressure settle within Bokuto’s eyes was enough for him to look away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Repositioning his hands on the steering wheel, his relaxed muscles allowed him to inhale deeper than usual. Fixating his line of sight towards the surface of the dashboard as he brought his elbow to rest next to the tinted window as his hand loosely gripped onto the sides of his face. Only half listening to the pair equip themselves with wires and cameras, he reminded himself of his one on one with Sugawara earlier that evening.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Standing with his hands behind his back, Akaashi’s eyes refused to peel away from the detailed black ink outlining the bones covering both of Sugawara's hands. Even with a small blue bird perched on his pointer finger, he still managed to appear wiser than everyone else. A half empty glass of whiskey set by his side along with a bowl of sunflower chips he would feed his bird every so often. A few scented candles placed randomly around the closed-off office left the room smelling sweet like vanilla. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Change of plans. Satori won’t be joining you on this mission, you’ll be their getaway. Think you can handle that?” Akaashi simply nodded his head, obeying Sugawara as if he was his loyal dog. Keeping quiet on the assumption there was something else, there had to be. If all he needed to confirm was the change in role he would have no reason to do it behind closed doors. “As someone I trust, I need you to assess the two new agents. If they’re no good...” He began to trail off, swiping the empty glass bottle of whiskey into the trash can next to him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Unneeding to say any more, he brushed the back of his finger against the bird's head which titled towards him in reaction. “Such a good girl for me” Lowering his voice as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Akaashi instantly looked from the now broken glass back up at the man before him, causing Suga to also stare back. “Oh, you want to be my good girl?” Tendous teasing seemed to have caught onto his boss - hearing Suga voice it out loud was so much worse.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sound of the car door closing shut brought Akaashi back into the present. Focusing on Kuroo’s frame that was sneaking towards the other parked car. “Bokuto, confirm your position.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The crackled voice belonging to Suna called out to him through the ear piece. “Heading over to him now.” He whispered out in reply as he ran his fingers through his duo-coloured, spiked up hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is your first time, isn’t it?” Sunas fingers adjusted the frequency, making the audio clearer and better to understand, getting only a huff back in response from the man who trudged over to the dealer. “Ok Kuroo, you’re up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sweet” Walking further into the darkness, he located the obnoxious yellow car that he assumed was the targets. “Please be open, please be open.” Kuroo muttered out his prayers, not realising that Suna could hear every word. Wiping his clammy palms against the fabric of his pants before he reached out towards the door handle. Fortunately for him it had idiotically been left unlocked. “Niceeeee” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suna frowned watching as the video on his laptop screen bobbed up and down. “Stop moving your head so much.” He ordered, to which Kuroo immediately obliged. On the other side of the screen showed a blonde haired man pulling out a small parcel from his bag. It wasn’t as big as their usual pickups but then again this was only a side deal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So… you do this often?” Bokuto starts, the awkwardness causes Suna to face palm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A staggered voice replied, “Uh.. yeah. It’s my job.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“God damn we sent out an idiot” He growled. Pulling the facemask completely off his face, he put his mouth slightly closer to the mic. “Kuroo, come back. Bokuto is shit with his words.” Suna relaxed back into his chair brushing his fingers through his blonde underlayer, a constant reminder of the bet he lost to Hanamaki.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Akaashi cracked his fingers against the palms of his hands. These two were clearly not suited for this job, Sugawara was going to dump them as soon as they got back. “Give him time.” Akaashi said wanting to give them both another chance to redeem themselves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, come on Koutarou. Flirt with him, I’m sure that will keep him busy.” Kuroo’s cocky expression was evident even without having to see his face. Suna and Akaashi watched as two hands scoured the car, searching through each seat. Printed on his left hand was the linings of a scorpion, the pinchers laying on his thumb and pointer finger. If they were like Ikigai, Bokuto would also have a scorpion tattoo somewhere on his body, Akaashi just hadn’t noticed it yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ikigai’s symbol was a snake coiled around a dagger. Akaashi pulled back his sleeve to examine his, letting his finger run up and down the markings on his forearm. The cycle of life and death. His eyes wander to Sunas neck where his tattoo was located, just behind the ear and big enough to cover the length of his neck. Cross earrings dangled from his ear, a small chain connecting the helix to his lobe. The jewelry complimented the ink perfectly, reflecting the light of the laptop screen. Akaashi never really paid attention to his colleagues, seeing as only now he realised the septum piercing resting in the middle of his nose. In this lighting he could make out the small outline of a skull's jaw crossing from one side of his face to the other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drawing his eyes back to the luminescent screen, he watched as the blonde figure on Bokuto's screen pulled his tongue between his teeth, flaunting the silver ball piercing the middle. “Oh really? You can touch them, don’t be shy” Akaashi furrows his eyebrows and leans into the screen along with Suna. He was somewhat glad he hadn’t been listening in to the conversation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still, he was now invested in what was going on, especially now Bokuto's hands were feeling up the dealer's arm. “Wow, you’re so strong!” His fingers tighten and release a few times as he squeezed the lanky boy's arm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Smugly, the man ran his spare hand through his hair, pushing his hood down to show off the features on his face. “I know.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as he did, Sunas fingers went to work on the keys of the laptop. “Keep it there, make sure his face stays in frame.” A few files came up before pulling up a profile of the blonde talking to Koutarou. “Okay. This is Yuuji Terushima, been a dealer for a few years now. Obviously not that good if he’s being fooled by this lunatic. But he’s going to lead us straight towards our guy.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I think I just need a few more minutes.” Kuroo stopped raking through the empty space under the radio and opened the glove compartment. A few things spilled out onto his lap but he just brushed it off. “Eh, I’ll clean it later.” Digging through the objects that had landed in his lap, one object stood out the most, a tatted worn notebook. Using his thumb and index finger to flip through the pages of endless scribbles and small jotted down notes, Kuroo’s other hand pulled out a phone. Snapping photos of anything he thought could be of use to him, thankful no one noticed the flash of his camera.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re really handsome too, I’m sure your partner knows they’re lucky!” The continuous flirting was almost sickly but still extremely amusing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Terushima pressed both of his arms behind his head, flexing his muscles as he did. “Yeah, she’s pretty lucky, but i’ve always wanted to taste… the same team if you know what I mean” Kuroo's laugh was a little louder than he anticipated, throwing his hand over his mouth to stifle the noise. Unfortunately, he was still heard. “What was that” Spinning around, the man adjusted his posture as if ready to fight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Without hesitation, Bokuto threw his arms around him, pulling him close with a tight hold. Although the hazel eyed man was significantly shorter than him, Koutarou still found himself acting as a scared heroine. “Oh my god was that a coyote?!?!” His voice was seemingly higher pitched, somehow keeping Terushima under his spell, snaking his arms tightly around the boy's waist in an attempt of ‘protection’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The interruption of a hiss caused Suna’s and Akaashi’s eyes to immediately dart to the chairs behind where the noise was coming from. Unsurprisingly, a long black snake descended from the navy rucksack Suna had brought along to carry equipment. “What have I told you about sneaking onto missions, Frankie.” Reaching behind him, he pulled the rest of the python into view. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Akaashi settles his vision on the small smile creeping across his partner's face as he let the snake wrap comfortably around his shoulders and neck. He didn’t have to say anything to know Suna was fully aware of the little friend that ‘snuck’ into the bag. One hand stroked the white circles on its tail while the other unwrapped a blue lollipop, letting the reptile flick its tongue across the candy a few times before placing it in his own mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brushing off the fact that Suna had brought his pet along for their mission - and they were now sharing a lollipop - he instead focused his attention elsewhere. Akaashi directed his gaze towards the owl like man that was doing a terrible job of flirting with their target, cringing at the embarrassing scene he moved onto the next best thing. Eyes locked onto the movement in Terushima’s car assuming that Kuroo was still searching for anything that could be used as evidence then Keiji moved onto a quick sweep of the area. Nothing looked out of place or even slightly suspicious in that moment other than the growing white lights in the distance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The luminosity of the headlights revealed everything in its sight, alerting Akaashi that Kuroo would be caught by whoever the hell was in that car if he didn’t escape now. Informing his partner that was seated next to him in their current situation, Suna immediately voiced out his concerns to the man who was unaware of the incoming car. “Kuroo get out of there.” His tone showed no signs of any hidden panic. Rapidly tapping away at his keyboard as Suna typed in codes to hack into any nearby security cameras. Unfortunately for them, the docks had been abandoned a long time ago causing any security to be out of commission.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah shit.” He paused for a moment, shoving the majority of the items back into their places as he struggled to remember where everything was originally left. Keeping hold of a small tatted notebook that rested in between his thighs. From his peripheral Kuroo could see what Suna had warned him about, the blinding headlights reflecting onto a stack of crates. Gripping tightly onto what he had found as he maneuvered his lanky limbs, desperately trying to scramble out of the car. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Climbing over the front seat and onto the other side, Kuroo clutched onto the door handle, opening it slightly as he slid out through the gap. The cover of the car door concealed his identity giving Kuroo time to gain his composure, with one knee on the gravel he peered through the window as he cautiously shut the door. Through squinted eyes he watched as the vehicle parked parallel to the one he had just searched. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shuffling towards the front of the car to get a better view of the mystery person that had just pulled up, he made out two figures sitting in the front seat. Although he couldn’t see who it was, he could see they were laughing and joking with each other, the music seeping through the gap at the top of the window suggesting singing along to a song. Taking this time to get away, Kuroo creeped around one of the crates, opting to take the long way back to the team. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peering through the gaps of the crate that shielded Kuroo from sight, he watched intently as his partner continued to sweet talk their dealer oblivious to his presence. Well that was until Kuroo couldn’t help with his teasing. “Oh Bo, how about giving him a wink? Oooo yes bite your lip I’m sure he loves that.” Dumbfoundedly, Bokuto continued to do as Tetsuro ordered. “Wow you sure flutter your eyes a lot when trying to pick up a chick… or a dick in this case.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suna muttered through the microphone, interrupting their little moment. “Or a moron.” Bokuto shifted to the side, opening his field of vision and finally collapsing his eyes on the black haired man. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, one foot crossing over the other and resting on his toe, a smug look planted on his face and to top it all off, he gave a little wave when he was noticed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I’m sure you have other addicts to- I mean clients to attend to” Shifting his weight to his heels, he took a step back bracing himself for a quick exit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was stopped just in time, forcinging his legs to freeze in place as nonchalantly as possible. “Bokuto you can’t leave until Kuroo returns, Kuroo get back here now. Stop messing around this isn’t a game, we have more potential witnesses now. Hurry up.”</span>
  <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akaashi leaned over in his chair towards Suna’s mic, he had already given the two a second chance and refused to give them another. A few creases on his forehead gave away the tension that had bubbled up inside of him. Releasing the pent up stress in the form of tapping his foot against the car floor, fingers twitching slightly in annoyance and impatience. If he had been the one to carry out the mission instead of these two idiots Sugawara had given him it would have been over a long time ago. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The slam of the car door and heavy breathing snapped Akaashi back into reality, he didn’t even bother to turn round and face Kuroo after that disaster. He knew everything wouldn’t always go to plan but they could've at least taken this seriously. Bringing his left hand towards his face massaging his forehead as he thought about the wasted time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah dude, I can see your bones, might wanna get that checked out” The new agent had only just slipped into the car and was already back to usual self.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Glow in the dark tattoo.” Suna muttered, keeping his focus on the moving video camera on his laptop screen. No matter how unbothered he seemed, he couldn’t resist bringing his hand up to cover the majority of the skeleton jaw on his own face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nodding his head in acceptance, Kuroo relaxed slightly in his chair, only now taking in the new member of their group. “Umm what is that?” It was more of a demand than a question but still he pointed towards the black and white ball python that rested upon Suna’s shoulders. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“First of all his name is Frankie, call him ‘that’ again and I’ll order him to kill you.” The threat had Testerou back up against the side of the car, pressing himself further into the door almost as if he was trying to merge with it in order to get away from the snake. “Bokuto come back, we’re heading out.” Suna’s message was loud and clear to the man on the receiving end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Unsure of how to leave Terushima, he ran his fingers through his hair clutching the package in his other hand, stalling for time. “Thanks for this...I’ll see you soon right?” Bokuto gestured towards the drugs he had been given, looking down to the ground adding to his act. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course maybe I’ll take you somewhere a little more comfortable...and private.” Yuji’s eyes trailed down to Kotarou’s lower abdomen and back up to his neck, lust building up inside of him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Y-yeah” Choking on his words as he turned on his heels away from the embarrassment that was Yuji Terushima. A sudden slap to his ass made Bokuto jump out of his skin, the contact from their dealers hand made him yelp out in surprise nearly dropping the packaged drugs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll see you later sweet cheeks.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Bokuto left the scene traumatised out of the corner of his eye he watched as their dealer strolled over to meet more of his customers. Overhearing their greetings, he caught their names ‘Noya’ and ‘Tanaka’ assuming that they wouldn’t be of any value, he soon forgot them. The sensation of Terushima’s hand still lingered on his lower half as he approached the car, hidden by a specific crate with orange stripes. Even from his distance, he could hear the muffled laughter spilling from the vehicle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Opening the door and sliding in behind Suna as quick as he could, he folded his arms across his chest in an attempt at hiding the embarrassment. “Stop laughing. It’s not funny.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course Kuroo didn’t give up there. His choked laughter now coming out in breaths as he leaned back in his chair, both hands gripping at his sides as it began to hurt. “How was it sweet checks, did the same team taste good?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokutos temper ran thin as he landed a slap to the back of Tetsuro’s head. “You know what buddy. It’s all your fault I just got touched up.” Hiding his humiliation with a harsh glare directed towards the dark haired boy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah, hey Suna did the movie stars debut act record itself or should I film it myself next time?” To which Suna just simply gave a thumbs up without turning away from the open file still on his screen. “Perfect, I bet everyone back at Ikigai and Shogani would love to see it.”</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Childishly sticking his tongue at Kuroo, Bokuto shifted to his original position, the head rest of Suna’s seat blocked his view of the front window. Staring right back at Bokuto was an axanthic ball python mimicking his earlier actions, its black tongue flickered out. Golden eyes squinting at the reptile in front of him, unsure of what to do. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here take this, he enjoys the taste.” Suna leant his arm backwards holding out a blue lollipop in hand, still focusing on his laptop screen and not paying much attention to how the body of his snake collided itself round the bars of the head rest. The front part of its body hovered in mid air as it’s tongue quivered, detecting the sweet aroma of the candy, slowly travelling towards it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taking the sweet off Suna he brought it closer towards it’s moving tongue, making it’s journey easier. Hesitantly taking it back when the snake lunged its head slightly forward but he buried his anxiety down and continued to move the candy closer to the snake. Gently, the long, dark tongue wrapped around the side of the lollipop - or at least tried to, Bokutos trembling hand made it harder than necessary. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Akaashi put the key into the ignition the engine roared and settled into a low hum causing the sudden tension in the snake’s muscles. The constriction of its body panicked the man holding it, feeling his own heartbeat grow stronger in his veins sent waves of adrenaline washing over him. After some time of getting used to the snake’s presence on his arm and how its muscles and scales moved against his skin, Bokuto finally relaxed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I got a bone to pick with you Kuroo” Mainly focusing on Suna’s reptile and how it continued to flick its forked tongue against the side of the lollipop his words were directed to the man sitting parallel to him. Golden eyes fixated onto the black and white scales that made a different pattern every time Bokuto glanced at it, almost a living kaleidoscope. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah and why is that?” A cocky grin was plastered onto Kuroo’s face as he swivelled round to face his co-worker. Hesitant to get too close, in fear that the snake would slither over to him. Even though he had a smile of a Cheshire cat slapped onto his face, his voice quivered at the sight of Frankie. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was groped because of all your piss-arsing around!” Using his hand that held the lollipop he pointed it towards the other man’s face whilst the hand that was holding Frankie shifted closer to his chest. The head of the snake followed the direction of the sweet treat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven haired man patted his friends head, ruffling the soft strands through his fingers. “You’re over exaggerating, it was bound to happen some time. No homo dude but you got a dump truck, just let it go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Refusing to stand down - or even take that as a compliment - Bokuto gave Kuroos hand a few slaps, ridding himself from all contact. “Over exaggerating my ass! That was practically sexual assault!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Both of you, I suggest you be quiet otherwise I’ll have to inform Sugawara of your antics as well as everything else that went wrong today.” Steel metallic coloured eyes never wavered from the road ahead, Akaashi’s tone was as cold as ice freezing whatever the hell the two were doing in the back. Fingers twitching on the steering wheel as frustration boiled up inside him. For some reason even just hearing the two breathe pissed him off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Upon seeing the snake move closer to his other hand in an attempt to lick for candy once more, Bokuto immediately grinned feeling the smooth silky scales tap twice on his hand instead. “Hey! Look, he likes me.” His cheerful tone was once again complemented by the rest of his body, the emotion radiating off of him somewhat naturally and dramatically. “I bet he would gobble you in one go if I told him to.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suna tried to keep his laugh in, sinking his teeth into his lower lip and squinted his eyes slightly. “Hey Koutarou, what scented products do you use?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto looked up seeing Suna turned in his seat to face him. “Cinnamon, why?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pressing down on the brakes jolting the car as it came to a stop at the lights. “What about the Axe? You use way too much of that.” Akaashi’s gaze travelled up to the rear view mirror, seeing Bokuto but never looking directly into his eyes as he continued to listen in to his and Suna’s conversation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah well you see I didn’t shower so I figured that spraying copious amounts of Axe would be alright…” A wave of silence washed over the car, even Akaashi’s nose creased at the thought remembering how he had stood in such close proximity to him and had shook his hand…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you thought that was a good idea, how?” Suna had fully turned round now, staring at the man holding his snake in utter disbelief. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t even shower on your first day...my god.” Using both of his hands to massage the sides of his face in order to relieve the stress that flowed through him, hints of disgust were evident in Kuroo’s voice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Placing a hand over his heart Bokuto began to explain his excuse. “Look I read somewhere that washing your hair two days in a row is bad for it...and I for one do not want to go bald, thank you very much.” Pointing what would have been his finger (but was in fact the lollipop Suna had handed him) at the black haired man seated opposite to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A deep sigh left Kuroo’s mouth as he continued to wish he had never known about this information. “You can shower without washing your hair, numb nuts. How dense can you be.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Back to the cinnamon… uhm Bokuto? You know snakes like the smell of cinnamon right?” Suna continued to examine the way Frankie acted in the presence of Bokuto. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two-tone haired boy kept smiling, the bubbly expression melting away all negativity left in the vehicle. “Yeah, that’s why he wants to be my friend!” Stroking the back of his hand across the snake's head, his actions were still hesitant around the new creature.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shaking his head in amusement, the dull eyed man brought up the clean face mask to cover the nose, hiding the ink paintings once again like they were never even there. “No Bokuto. More than friends” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo was the first one to lose his composure - as expected. He threw his head back and clung to the sides of his stomach to show off his signature laugh. “Holy shit- Pulling a druggie and a reptile in one day. Wow Bo, you really pulling out all the stops for this one.” His adolescent teasing had mindlessly infected the other passengers of the car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well at least I can pull something, unlike you jackass. Scaring off every girl just with your breath. Ugly looking ass.” Bokuto muttered the last three words just about loud enough for the other to hear. Pouting his lips as he did so. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Almost as if all of Kuroo’s movements had been delayed, he slowly turned round, readying himself for another argument. “What the hell did you say to me-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before it could get too out of hand Akaashi raised his voice for the first time in a while. “SHUT UP.” The car fell into an uncomfortable silence before Keiji continued his sentence in a less aggressive tone. “It’s not Kuroo’s fault you're a whole snake charmer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suna let a ‘pfft’ slip past his lips until everyone got startled by an irritatingly familiar voice from the speakers of the car. “Beastiality at it’s finest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How long have you been here Mr T?” The brown haired boy responded to the voice and brought his pet to wrap around his neck and shoulders once again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keiji answered a while ago, since Kourtaros little friend got handsy.” All eyes fell upon the quieter boy, Bokutos being the most baffled ones. Akaashi let the smug look naturally fall on his features, not bothering to hide it anymore. “How was the mission lads?” Akaashi rolled down the window, resting his elbow on the now open area. He allowed the breeze to mess up his hair, smiling at the feeling of content now rushing through his body. After the other two finished explaining how the mission went, he took a quick take at the radio station that would be playing after he hung up on Tendou. “Get anything useful?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Honestly Akaashi hadn’t expected the two to get any information, hearing Bokuto's sorry excuse of a conversation was somewhat draining and the amount of noise Kuroo had made just didn’t seem like they got anything done. To his surprise, the raven haired man smirked while flipping a small black notebook between his pointer and middle finger - holding it next to his face like he just mastered a card trick. The cocky tone in his voice only adding to his superiority complex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who do you think I am?”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Suna has a snake and Bokuto has a dump truck end of story</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So that’s everything that happened, correct?” Resting the tip of his nose against one of his outlined knuckles whilst the other hand moved in a circular motion swishing around the contents of his glass, Suga’s eyes locked onto the raven haired man that stood before him. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes sir.” Akaashis words were dry, not bothering to waste his breath on something that didn’t even need confirmation.</p><p> </p><p>Tendous lips curled upwards, humming in content at the information. “Nice work princess. Rintarou is almost done with the book, you should be able to get back to work in a day or two. Tetsurou... We need to have a talk about your evidence photos though.”</p><p> </p><p>Sitting up in his chair, the man looked with eyes of both interest and offense. “What about them?” The tapping of his foot came to a sudden stop, watching as his superior spread out the pictures across a smooth, white table. Glossy photos of notes and just general rubbish was scattered out across one end of the worktop. A single picture of Kuroo posing with his bottom lip tucked between his teeth and two fingers stroking his chin landed in the centre on display for everyone to gaze upon. </p><p> </p><p>“Ah I see what you mean now…” All eyes were on him and a nervous laugh erupted from the now flustered man, unsure of how to describe what exactly was going on in that picture. He leant back in his chair as his hands tried to make up various excuses for what happened that words could not explain. Many snickers from numerous people were echoed around the office of Kuroo’s antics. </p><p> </p><p>“But did you really need to take photos of the gear stick, steering wheel...and what’s this one? A pack of gum...seriously?” Picking up a few of the pieces of so-called evidence, Tendou flicked through them, generally concerned about what the hell went through Kuroo’s head when he took all of these. Shuffling them around in his hands for a few more seconds before letting them fall back down to the surface of the desk. </p><p> </p><p>“If I didn’t think it could’ve been of use I wouldn’t have taken photos of it.” What shocked Akaashi the most was how serious the man was being after all he had placed a hand over his heart and made himself resemble that of an angel of some sort. Seeing Kuroo behave like this after his countless warnings was a good enough persuasion to slam his own head into a wall or onto the desk in a lousy attempt to rid these memories from his brain. Akaashi’s thoughts drifted to calculating the force and speed that he would need to have that would result in enough amnesia to forget this whole ordeal. </p><p> </p><p>Whilst Kuroo and Tendou were bickering among themselves and the rest were either making snarky remarks or ignoring the scene they were causing however Akaashi’s mind was elsewhere. His intrusive thoughts were getting the better of him but he found himself pondering about one thing that had been stuck to his mind ever since he had left Sugawara’s office. Why didn’t he tell Sugawara everything that had happened? There wasn’t any outstanding reason not to, so why hide it?</p><p> </p><p>Akaashi couldn’t figure it out, maybe it was because of how well they got on with Suna or how they were both quick learners? As he relaxed back into his chair he still couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer. They pissed him off by just being near him so he obviously didn’t take much of a liking to them, he came to the conclusion he had enough of Bokuto and Kuroo being on his mind for now. Deciding to brush the whole ordeal off of his shoulders and not spend anymore of his valuable time pondering about the two when he could be doing something that was actually worthwhile.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s enough you two, all we have to do now is to wait for Rintarou to analyse the <em> useful </em> evidence Kuroo found and then we’ll find our guy…” A sly grin formed on Suga's face as he stroked his thumb across the bottom of his chin. Lifting his head up slightly he scanned the room with half lidded eyes. “Rin’s quick with his work so I’m assuming he will be done by tomorrow night. We can't make a move until that happens, anything to add Keiji?” Suga’s question nearly caught him off guard but since when did Akaashi let anything catch him like that? Making a mental note to not let himself slip up like that again, he couldn’t afford too, not in his world anyway. </p><p> </p><p>“I have nothing more to add than what I told you earlier.” Cognitively scolding himself for sounding so defensive, he should’ve known Suga was trying to get that out of him. </p><p> </p><p>Tendou rested his gaze on Akaashi. He was on the call before they got into the car, he knew. Still, he decided on not saying anything, bringing his pointer finger and thumb to create a zip across his lips before ‘throwing away the key’. Never in his many years of working for Ikigai had he been caught in a lie, he never really had to tell one, but now one of his colleagues had something against him. Worst of all, it was Tendou that had something against him. It’s not like it was the end of the world, or even a big deal, but the thought crawled across Akaashi’s skin like an annoying bug. One he couldn’t rid himself of. The idea that someone could manipulate him so easily was annoying, not that Tendou had the balls to but he had the opportunity. </p><p> </p><p>“If no one has anything to add then I have no further use of anyone in this room today.”  Sugawara gave a final dismissal as he stood from his chair. The meeting room was surprisingly smaller than his office and the mix of scents made him miss the familiar vanilla aura that circled his room. </p><p> </p><p>Matsukawa swung his arm around Hanamakis shoulders with a light grin planted on his face while the strawberry blonde started to slowly come back from his dazed demeanor, the usual for the two of them. “Well Makki, you know what the time is don’t you? Try not to shit your pants”</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto fluttered his eyes before directing them towards the two who were mid conversation. “I’m sorry what?” His tone slightly concerned for the two, who wouldn’t be after just hearing that.</p><p> </p><p>Two pairs of chocolate eyes landed on him, a hint of a glimmer in the one standing up. “We’re going to a haunted fun house. The first to wuss out gets a buzz cut.”</p><p> </p><p>The bizarre bet piqued the interest of a certain red head who had been half listening, half looking up when the next chapter of JJK comes out. “Oooo okay okay I’m in” He guffawed, jumping from his seat to embrace Matsukawa in a bro hug. </p><p> </p><p>Before he could reach his goal, he was pulled back by his collar letting a gag slip from his throat. Within a split second he lost his balance and stumbled a few steps back before regaining his composure. “You’re not going anywhere until you finish doing your job.” The boss set his instructions and his stern tone made it clear there were no two ways around it.</p><p> </p><p>Tendou sunk into his grip, letting the material practically hang him. “But you said you didn’t need anyone for anything”</p><p> </p><p>A low chuckle erupted from Sugawara before he let out a sigh. “You don’t classify as a human Satori, you’re more of a monster”</p><p> </p><p>Letting his words sink in further than the surface of his skin, Satori let his walls fall down for a moment; Suga’s words acted as if they were a catalyst triggering a certain memory that reminded him of the poisonous ones of his past. His head hung low and his hair covering the majority of his features - aside from his mouth. A sly smirk stuck to his face and a single red iris peered from the gaps of his fringe. “You’re a bastard.” He said in a low tone slowly, he pulled himself out of Sugas claws, his shirt was looser now as it was stretched by the strong hold. The devilish look on his face not falling once.</p><p> </p><p>“Still haven’t changed one bit with your childish demeanour, have you?” His boss muttered to him. Slinging one arm over Suga’s broad shoulders he understood what he was trying to get across. A subtle laugh escaped the cages of his lips but Tendous eyes never changed. The two walked out of the office together, not another word was shared between them, just the laughs of friends. </p><p> </p><p>From the outside looking in Sugawara would seem like an absolute prick. The way he spoke to his coworker was hideous, even if he was a higher-up. But what they wouldn’t understand is that Suga knew of the shadows in Tendous' past. He took the time to learn about all of the people he had employed. He was just that kind of boss. In his own sick twisted way, he would bring up things like this as ‘encouragement’. To him, you're not the mistakes of your past, you are the present. He knew Tendou was strong, and in a way he could handle the reminder.</p><p> </p><p>Closely following behind the two were none other than Makki and Mattsun, a few jokey insults between them as they exited. “You’re gonna look like a whole Mr Clean by the end of the day mate.” Makki punched his friend in the stomach gently.</p><p> </p><p>The dark haired man rubbed his knuckles against Makkis scalp. “Nah dude, you’re gonna be shaven more than my coc-”</p><p> </p><p>A loud slam echoed throughout the room as Akaashi kicked the door shut, his arms were crossed and he looked slightly traumatised by the conversation. The pair had already ruined the little innocence he had left. “That’s enough of that.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo chuckled a little, trying his best to contain the amusement from the sudden reaction. He still earned a glare from Keiji regardless.</p><p> </p><p>“You guys wanna try out that new bakery in the city?” He had been unusually quiet throughout the entire meeting, not letting out a snarky comment at any given moment. </p><p> </p><p>The sudden movement in Akaashi’s neck caused a subtle click that didn’t go unnoticed to him or the others around him. It wasn’t much of a surprise to him as it was to Bokuto or Kuroo who both cringed at the sound.</p><p> </p><p>“Can’t, I have to talk to Suna, but I will catch you later” Bringing his hand down to his thigh, Kuroo slapped his knee shaking his head as he did so. “Anyways I’ll leave you guys to it then.” Taking a quick awkward glance around the room, his eyes darted towards Bokuto, flashing him a short lived smirk before he took swift strides out of the room. Running slim fingers through his ebony black hair as he let out a sigh changing his direction towards where Suna was working at. </p><p> </p><p>“Did you wanna go now?” The owl-like man still kept his line of sight aimed towards the now disappearing image of Kuroo, after his figure had vanished he shifted positions to face Akaashi, waiting for his answer. It was just a simple question but he still had trouble trying to come up with his final decision. It’s not that he couldn't go or anything and there wasn’t an outstanding reason not to but something held him back from voicing out loud his answer. Bokuto was an unknown person to him, a mysterious figure he hadn’t quite figured out yet, if he said yes it would be a good chance to understand his character and who he really was. All Akaashi knew about him was that he belonged to Shogani, smells oddly like cinnamon and isn’t great at flirting. Maybe accepting his proposal would be a beneficial opportunity for him.</p><p> </p><p>Or maybe it was simply because of the way Bokuto looked at him. Never in his life had he come across someone so annoyingly upbeat. Usually, he would have no problem denying the offer, but the way his body rocked back and forth in the chair, or the way his warm eyes stared directly into his cold ones without fear or hesitation, perhaps it was the way he bit his lip while he waited as patiently as he could, just made it hard to say no.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t really matter anymore, because even with all of his thinking for an answer Bokuto's stomach had interrupted Akaashi’s thought process which led to the start of their journey towards the Bakery.</p><p> </p><p>A silence fell upon the two as they walked through the streets of Japan, instead they let their eyes and mind drift to far away places. Still keeping their guard up but not noticing it, it was something they had just grown accustomed to after living in their way of life for so long. It wasn’t surprising when Bokuto suddenly grew impatient with their stillness. Racking his brain for any type of conversation starter.</p><p> </p><p>“I forgot to ask what’s your favourite treat?” It wasn’t a topic of conversation Bokuto had chosen but it was a start. Digging his hands into the depths of his pockets as he waited for Akaashi’s reply.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not quite sure, I haven’t been to a bakery for some time” It was true Akaashi wasn’t one to go down and check out the bakery and what goods they had on sale but nonetheless he enjoyed sweet treats, whenever he had the time and energy to go and get them that was. Bokuto took quick notice of the movement of Akaashi’s lips, wondering why he was biting the inside, his original thought and best explained one was that it was just a harmless habit and nothing more. </p><p> </p><p>“Well everyone has their favourites I’m sure that they’ll have something you’ll like.” Bokuto wasn’t sure why he did reassure the man walking parallel next to him, however his memory of last night came into view as he recalled Akaashi’s comforting words. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> We’ll be waiting right here, in this spot. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The two continued walking side by side, small murmurs and short lived conversations was all that was shared, every time he thought he had forgotten about it Bokuto reminded himself of the words Akaashi had voiced out to him. Even though it was directed to everyone he knew that part of it was said just for him.</p><p> </p><p>The glossy leaves of the upcoming season danced around the two bodies as they continued their journey. Luckily, the outlining of the sign attaching itself to the bakery came close into view. “Looks like we're here” Bokuto pointed out the obvious to the man walking next to him. Amber light reflected from the boys' eyes, seemingly making them glow revealing it’s loss of colour. All Bokuto saw before was for sure a lie, he remembered his irises being cold and dull but never did he think that they were as blue as the sea speckled with flakes of gold and streaks of white. He paid as little attention as Akaashi did.</p><p> </p><p>The white painted bricks made the bakery look built fairly recent and had black panes outlining the glass windows. It had a more modern colour pallet then the other buildings surrounding it which only made it stand out more. Although they were on the outskirts of a town, there were only a few people roaming the streets. Some smiles, some laughing, some peering at their phone screen and others who appeared like they had to get somewhere important. All of them holding their own purpose.</p><p> </p><p>Akaashi didn’t notice this though. He only saw faces, not people. It wasn’t like they really mattered to him, he would probably forget about them soon enough. Their individual features made it easy for Akaashi to divide their line of work from one another; they weren’t a threat to him, they meant nothing.</p><p> </p><p>Leaking from the cracked open door, sweet smells of honey and sugar graced them as they approached the building. Even just standing outside, they felt as though they were being drawn in by the scent. Bokuto nodded at his companion, holding the door open with his left hand as he gestured for Akaashi to enter first. “You don’t have to do that Bokuto. I can open doors myself.”</p><p> </p><p>His words cut straight to the point, the dagger sharp and ready. He didn’t need people to do things for him, he only came with Bokuto because he was practically dragged along. He didn’t want to be here. What was the point in coming along anyways? Friendship was unnecessary in his world. It would only end in something he didn’t need to feel. </p><p> </p><p>Even with the tone Akaashi had used, Koutarou didn’t drop his attitude. Simply tilting his head to the side and moving his eyes from the shorter male, to inside the bakery and back again. “I wonder if they sell beverages here too!” Completely disregarding what Akaashi had just said, he bounced on his heels in anticipation. Eyes darting around in search of a menu board or something of the sort as he walked inside.</p><p> </p><p>The hazel eyed worker stood with a bored expression, insulting his complexion. Although, it suddenly changed to a forced smile when he noticed the two new customers approaching the glass counter. “Welcome!” He greeted, squinting his eyes in an attempt at seeming friendly. “What can I get for you today?” His voice was high and slightly off tone, it was obvious to anyone that he was faking his gleeful character. It was certainly embarrassing as the pair who had just walked in cringed at the sight, but both being the masters of hiding their true intents behind a facade, their reactions went unnoticed to the man behind the counter. </p><p> </p><p>“Two cinnamon buns please!!” Bokuto exclaimed, eyes mesmerized by the treats laying before him. Keiji furrowed his brows for a second, questioning if both of those were for Bokuto or one for him. “Oh sorry Akaashi, do you like those?” He turned to look into Akaashi’s metallic, grey eyes while hiding his lower lip behind his teeth, the low sun making his features seem almost golden.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll try one.” The boy replied, relaxing his expression back to his neutral one.</p><p> </p><p>An excitable smile crawled across Bokuto's face, “Okay I’ll be back! I’m going to go over to the store to get some water” Before Akaashi could even respond he had already left the bakery. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He's just like a child. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The brick walls of the bakery were lined with magazines and posters promoting their ‘brand’, the colourful design being too hard for anyone to miss. The vivid colours caught Akaashi’s eye as he looked elsewhere for a distraction from the awkward silence between him and the cashier. Metallic iris drifted around before accidently landing on the workers name tag: ‘<em> Tooru’ </em>. </p><p> </p><p>“He does realize that he could've gotten a drink from here right?” His question startled Akaashi who was not expecting any form of interaction from him. </p><p> </p><p>Instead of taking one of the seats that were available to him, he stood near to the corner of the room. “Uh. No, I don’t think so.”</p><p> </p><p>The uncomfortable silence once again surrounded the two, only the ruffling of paper being audible. “Here you go.Two cinnamon rolls, fresh from the oven” Akaashi nodded, reaching out his hand to take the food. Before he had the chance to thank the man, Tooru’s nose twitched as he inhaled deeply. Completely confused by his actions, he unconsciously took a quick step back. “You smell like vanilla, did you know?” Akaashi gave the man a simple nod, still weirded out by Tooru’s earlier gestures. “Cinnamon and vanilla. Hmmmm I’ve never put those two together before. Sounds gross.” </p><p> </p><p>Once again, Akaashi just stood there clueless. What was he going on about? Wasn’t vanilla put with the majority of things? And even if it wasn’t, why did his scent matter at all? “Uhm- Okay?” </p><p> </p><p>“OIKAWA! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT FREAKING OUT THE CUSTOMERS. At this point there’s going to be nobody to serve, keep your nose out of people's business literally.” Loudly exiting from the back room, another worker came into view, presumably the manager. </p><p> </p><p>“But Shige-” </p><p> </p><p>“You don’t know me like that. It’s Yahaba to you.” He was stern with Oikawa, not letting him get a chance to sweet talk his way out of it. His hand collided with the back of his colleagues head forcing him to bow to Akaashi. “Our deepest apologies, this freak will be paying for your food. Have a good evening.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait wait woah there buddy, I didn’t agree to that!” Two hands made a lazy attempt at ridding the others hand from his head. “I worked for that money,” He protested.</p><p> </p><p>“This is the third customer today! Lucky you aren’t getting fired.” Yahaba brought his fingers to run through his soft, brown hair. “Besides. You couldn’t get any other job with those girly-” </p><p> </p><p>The slam of the door cut the manager off mid sentence. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his co-worker holding two bottles of water, his focus was on the multiple droplets of condensation forming and falling onto Bokuto’s fair skin. He then moved his gaze onto the orange hues that cascaded across the sky trailing it’s light that painted Bokuto’s complexion. Instead of trying to gain his attention, the raven haired boy stood by his side, intrigued by what he was staring at. He soon realised that he too was looking in awe at the burnt colours that made up the sky above them. </p><p> </p><p>“I heard there was going to be shooting stars around this time, they don’t happen often we should go watch it.” The duo-hair coloured man stated, some type of content laid within his voice. Akaashi wasn’t that bothered if he was being honest, all it was was gazing in awe at dying stars, they may be pretty but he would rather not watch something so beautiful die before his eyes. Instead of voicing out his thoughts as he was sure Bokuto would deem it as him being stupid, or something of the sort, he just hummed in agreement. Blindly following the man as he found himself becoming lost in the sea of his own thoughts. </p><p> </p><p>As the sun descended from its high welcoming the moon, the crowds that once populated the street seemed to be no more, it’s roaring bubbling sound lost into the upcoming night. A silence fell upon the two as they walked towards a clearing in a nearby grassland area. Akaashi couldn’t make up his mind whether it was awkward or not, the whole ordeal confused him. Fortunately for him they had reached the clearing, still holding onto the baked goods, he lowered himself to the ground. </p><p> </p><p>Unexpectedly his knees buckled out stretching one hand as he landed on his backside with a thud. Earning a short lived laugh from the other who sat down with ease next to him. The two shuffled around slightly as the blunt blades of grass itched through their clothes and the dried out weeds scratched at their skin. </p><p> </p><p>Using their hands they flattened the ground as best level they could. The last rays of light from the dying sun caught their eyes and captured their minds. The hum of crickets and the birds song harmonised together creating a sort of bliss that only the two would experience. A memory shared between them. </p><p> </p><p>Placing down the two bottles, Bokuto relaxed his muscles, declining further until he laid upon a bed of grass. Arms behind his head as his eyes rested on the pastel coloured clouds. Their shapes piqued his interest triggering memories that seemed like they were from a lifetime ago.</p><p> </p><p> A low rumble of the man’s stomach caused him to sit straight up, almost causing Akaashi to flinch. He reached over for the cinnamon buns, taking one out, not even a second after it was exposed to the cold evening air, it was gone. More of stuffed into his mouth and swallowed whole. White sugar icing was dusted over his fingertips and lips, its crystal form gave off a sort of glitter effect when the light reflected from it. </p><p> </p><p>On the other hand Akaashi, lent forward grasping one of the bottles as he twisted the cap undone he hadn't realised how parched he was until he felt the cool liquid hydrate his body. The so called awkward silence from earlier had been left in the past. Now in the present the tension had been lifted and all he knew now was that him and Bokuto were being graced by the presence of the stars. </p><p> </p><p>The amber light had faded, it’s embers extinguished by the cold and darkened veil of the night. Akaashi tightened his arms around his stomach ignoring the cold as best as he could. “You know I bet all these stars lived long lives, maybe they lived as pirates…” Bokuto paused for a moment, taking the time to gather his thoughts, unsure of what to say next. Almost as if he caught himself oversharing, it wasn’t evident in his facial expression but Keiji could tell from his eyes alone. </p><p> </p><p>“Who knows” Bokuto shrugged, letting out a deep sigh as he rested his hands and chin onto his knees as his golden iris peered further than the stars. The other figured that he most likely was wondering about their lives, still he wasn’t too sure.To him Bokuto was such a simple creature but yet he was so confusing at the same time. The ebony hair coloured man joined him in his pondering, trying to work out what star or constellation he was gazing at. </p><p> </p><p>“Going on from what i said earlier, I am certain that they are pirates.” He raised one hand to the sky pointing out the captain, second mate, crew members and their ship. Akaashi recognised the series of stars as part of Cygnus, the faint glow emitted from them just about made up the outlinings of a swan. It’s wings spread out far, he imagined it soaring through galaxies exploring places that had never been explored, seeing things that had never been seen before. He let his mind drift away with the swan, for once he generally enjoyed the moment he lived in. However, putting aside his thoughts, Boktuo mistaking Cygnus for a pirate ship and its crew baffled him. </p><p> </p><p>Only catching small snippets of the words that flowed from his mouth, there was something about how the story was told that just made sense to him, fighting for treasure and becoming rich of their own succession and dueling against sworn enemies. Akaashi didn’t feel immense content or sudden euphoria like other people would’ve, he just simply felt as if he belonged in this moment, in this memory nothing more nothing less. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh and that one was his arch nemesis that fell in love with the girl the pirate loved, I’m sure of it.” Quietly Akaashi watched his finger move from star to star, painting a story within the sky. “And in the end, the pirate realised he loved- hey are you even listening?” </p><p> </p><p>The man who had just mumbled about pirates and what not twisted his head round his gaze meeting the side of Akaashi’s head. His eyes locked onto the reflection of galaxies in Keiji’s own. Mesmerized by how vivid and bright the mirrored colours were, if only it could last forever.</p><p> </p><p>“You said there would be falling stars tonight. We’ve been here for nearly two hours and nothing has happened.” His now half lidded eyes told Bokuto all he needed to know. His dull expression suddenly made the stars seem a little less brighter, a little less vivid. Instead of seeing the stars as pirates living out their life to the fullest and falling in love, Bokuto saw them for what they actually were. A flaming ball of gas that would eventually burn out someday. </p><p> </p><p>It was only now that akaashi wanted to be able to talk freely. He hated nothing more than being a burden or an inconvenience to people. He too wanted to be able to ramble on about the stars and the galaxies they resided in. If he let himself he could've educated Bokuto on the constellations. Telling him their stories, their victories and failures, their lives and deaths. A small part of him hoped that he could someday. </p><p> </p><p>After a pregnant pause the owl like man brushed off his own personal feelings, deeming them to be too problematic for him right now. Letting his arm drop down to his side dramatically, huffing in the process. “Makki said there would be some tonight-”</p><p> </p><p>“I should’ve known Makki would’ve told you something like this.” The raven haired man interrupted him, causing the other to cluelessly nod. Sighing out in the night, Keiji ran his slender fingers through his hair that flowed effortlessly in the light breeze. Distorting the moonlight that shone through his slightly tangled locks every time he moved them. </p><p> </p><p>“There’s going to be no shooting stars tonight Bokuto.” Bringing his water bottle to his lips, he had to do a double take when he realised that there was none left. </p><p> </p><p>“Here take mine” Holding out a half empty bottle, Bokuto gestured for the other to take it from his outstretched hand. Cautiously, Akaashi reached out for it, upon holding it he inspected the liquid for any signs of backwash, on further investigation he wiped the rim with his sleeve. Cleaning it before he took a sip. </p><p> </p><p>“What are you, a germaphobe?” Bokuto questioned, a look of offence plastered onto his face as if each individual action Keiji made insulted him. </p><p> </p><p>“No I would rather it be as clean as possible.” Akaashi answered in reply but not truthfully.His not so honest and blunt response sent them both back into silence. </p><p> </p><p>If truth be told, Akaashi wanted to answer honestly nonetheless he felt as if he couldn’t. It wasn’t even the germs that caused him to react in that way but more of lacking trust. He learnt from past mistakes not to trust easily even when it came to the basics of sharing water. He wasn’t even certain if his previous experiences made him this way, he could never be sure of what it was. He prayed for a shooting star he could wish upon that he would be able to voice out his thoughts to those he wanted them to hear but like he said earlier there wasn’t a single falling star that night. </p><p> </p><p>Akaashi found himself feeling selfish for his prayers, for the death of a star for him to be able to speak his mind. He knew deep down that he didn’t want to watch something so beautiful die before his eyes again. </p><p> </p><p>“Makki was wrong about the falling stars tonight, but look Akaashi.” Diverting his attention back to the duo haired boy, he took notice of something that was so hard to miss. “We have our own stars down here.”</p><p> </p><p>Countless floating lights surrounded the two, flying around their bodies, a path of light emerged from the forest that they drifted from. Perfectly mirroring the galaxies above them. The scene was one only told in fairytales. Bokuto immediately acted jumping up and pouncing on his prey. Clapping his hands together once, twice, attempting to capture the creature in between the cages of his palms. Shifting to the tips of his toes as he struggled for balance, he clapped a final time before falling back down gently, still trapping the insect in his hands. His tongue poked out the side of his mouth as he and Akaashi watched in suspense as he slowly began to open his hands revealing what was kept inside.</p><p> </p><p>A small light reflected from the boy's eyes and an excited smile quickly took over his concentrated expression before a single firefly flew from within Bokuto's hands. They watched as the bug rejoined its family, not straying too far away from them. “You know, I used to have a jar of fireflies- well they were fairy lights but my Pa would say they were my fireflies. He used to tell me they were magic and would bring me happiness whenever I looked at them. He loved fireflies and always had the best stories to tell.”</p><p> </p><p>“You keep using past tense. Does he not anymore?” It was unlike Akaashi to be this invested in someone else’s life story, the question came to a surprise to him as well. </p><p> </p><p>“He would.” Bringing his lip between his teeth, Bokuto lifted his chin towards the sky. Eyes capturing the mix of the fireflies and stars. “But now he’s with them.”</p><p> </p><p>His words shocked Akaashi, he didn’t know why but they did. Maybe it was the way he acted, it wasn’t like someone who had lost a parent. His lip quivered slightly, searching for what to say back. It’s not like he could say sorry. He didn’t feel like the time was right to change the subject and getting up to leave was out of the question now. Instead, he stayed silent. Letting the night drown out the thoughts racing through his head. Letting Bokuto have the time he needed to think about his dad. Even if it was only a few minutes, he thought he probably needed that time. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey Akaashi?” Moving his head back to look at Bokuto, he hummed in response, watching as the constellations filled the boys' iris's. Bokuto didn’t look at him this time, keeping his vision on the night sky. “Thank you for coming. I know there weren't any shooting stars but,” Finally connecting his gaze with Akaashis, a single tear ran down his left cheek but was almost missed by the smile plastered across the boy's features. His eyes squeezed shut and his teeth fully exposed. He wasn’t sure if he imagined the teardrop but he saw how its wet trail glinted in the light of the moon before focusing back onto the man seated next to him. Watching and listening with intent at his next words. </p><p> </p><p>“At least we have the fireflies.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You should definitely go check out our twitter 17Ayaries</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sugas abs are definitely crafted by the gods - I take no criticism in that</p></blockquote></div></div>
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